1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a digital broadcast system and, in particular, to a metadata display control method and system for a digital broadcast receiver that may display metadata associated with a broadcast program on a secondary display terminal while displaying the broadcast program on a primary display terminal.
2. Discussion of the Background
With the advance of technologies and the demand variations of subscribers, broadcast service environments are changing and becoming more complicated. Analog broadcast services are evolving into digital broadcast services, and broadcasting media are diversified with terrestrial, cable, and satellite broadcast systems. Recently, interactive broadcast services have begun to operate with communication networks, and broadcast receivers are becoming more advanced.
Interactive broadcast services include Smart TV, Enhanced TV, Intelligent TV, and Internet TV. The concept of interactive television (TV) covers a wide range of services and systems. An interactive TV may allow a viewer to control the time and program to watch and provides various additional functions such as Internet access, data broadcast, and Personal Video Recorder (PVR) functions. Particularly, an interactive TV may allow the viewer to provide some personal input or feedback to a broadcast station. The broadcast station transmits metadata associated with broadcast programs through an additional forward channel and receives viewer feedback through a return channel. For example, the metadata of a sports program may include profiles of players, scores of the teams, and a tournament profile. Also, the metadata of a drama may include information about backgrounds of scenes, characters, synopsis, and producers and staffs. Also, the metadata may include an Electronic Program Guide (EPG) of a corresponding service channel.
Typically, the metadata is displayed on a part of a display screen so as to partially conceal the broadcast program image displayed on the display screen, which may inconvenience the viewer. The conventional interactive TV may provide an option to disable the metadata presentation. In this case, however, the viewer may have to manipulate a menu in order to check the metadata, which may cause additional inconvenience. Furthermore, when there are several viewers and one wants to view the metadata, he/she may be required to obtain consent from all of the other viewers.